936
WORLD'S AIR FORCES
employed in Portugal's colonies in
Africa equipped with PV-2 Harpoons.
A relatively large transport force com
prises 24 Noratlas and 40 C-47s, two
Boeing 707s, five C-54s, ten DC-6s and
15 C-45s for communications work. A
large helicopter force uses 20 Alouette
lis, 54 Alouette Ills and 12 Pumas and
there are 25/67 Dornier Do27s for light
liaison and other duties.
QATAR
Qatar Defence Force This newly formed
service has eauipped with six Hunter
FGA.9s.
RHODESIA
Royal Rhodesian Air Force There has
been little change in the status of this
air force due to the sanctions imposed
by Britain since UDI. However the ser
vice maintains four combat squadrons,
a bomber squadron of 11 Canberra B.2s,
two strike/fighter squadrons, one with
12 Hunter FGA.9s and the other with 12
Vampire FB.9s, and a tactical recce
squadron using 13 Provost T.52s. The
transport squadron of four C-47s has
been augmented with seven Aermacchi
AL.60s and a Beech Baron, while a heli
copter squadron operates eight Alouette
Ills.
ROMANIA
Romanian Air Force Typical of the
Soviet satellite air forces, Romania has
18 squadrons of MiG-19s and MiG-21s
for air defence, two recce squadrons
with Il-28s and two transport squadrons
with Il-12s, Il-14s, one U-18 and Li-2s.
Ten Mi-4 helicopters form the sole
rotary-wing component. The Army
operates SA-2 Guideline SAMs.
SALVADOR
Fuerza Aerea Salvadorena This small
state supports a combat air force of 12
aircraft, six F4U Corsairs and six
Cavalier F-51D Mustangs. For trans
port it uses four C-47s and one FH-1100
helicopter and there are in addition ten
T-6 Texans and about 20 other aircraft
for training.
SAUDI ARABIA
Royal Saudi Air Force Seventy-five
modern combat aircraft make this a
formidable air force in the Middle East.
Thirty-four Lightning F.53 fighters fly
alongside 16 F-86 strike aircraft and for
light strike duties it has 24 Strike-
master aircraft. Air defence is enhanced
with 37 Thunderbird SAMs for airfield
defence and the Army also operates ten
batteries of Hawk SAMs. The transport
force comprises eight C-47s, two C-118s,
six C-123 Providers and nine C-130E
Hercules. The helicopter force uses
three different types, two Alouette His,
24 Agusta-Bell 204B and ten Agusta-Bell
AB.206 JetRangers. About 30 trainers
include T-41As, Lightnings, Hunters and
T-33As.
Above, BAC 167 Strikemaster of the Singapore
Air Defence Command carrying overload tanks.
Below, Atlas-built MB.326 Impala of the South
African Air Force
SENEGAL
Senegal Air Force Another ex-French
colony whose air force is purely a
transport unit with four C-47s, four
Broussard light transports and two
helicopters.
SOMALI DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC
Somalian Aeronautical Corps This air
force is largely Soviet-run now and flies
18 MiG-15/17 fighters supported by 20
Yak-11 trainers and six MiG-15UTI and
MiG-17UTI trainers. Transports com
prise one An-24 and several C-45s and
C-47s.
FLIGHT International, 24 June 1971
SOUTH AFRICA
South African Air Force The SAAF has
a strong, up-to-date air force, largely
French-equipped since the sensitivity in
Britain has arisen over offending the
other African states. Nine Canberra
bombers equip one light bomber squad
ron and 15 Buccaneer S.50s a strike
squadron. Three fighter-bomber squad
rons deploy 20 Mirage IIIEZs equipped
with AS-20 and AS-30 air-to-surface
missiles and 16 Mirage IIICZs with
Matra air-to-air missiles and an addi
tional four Mirage IIIRZs in the tactical-
recce role. There is another squadron
operating Canadair Sabre 6s, about 30
of which remain. Maritime reconnais
sance is at present catered for by a
squadron of seven Shackleton MR.3s.
Transport is provided by nine Transall
C.160s and seven Hercules C-130Bs for
the medium tactical-support role, four
C-54s and a Viscount for other transport
duties, and nine Piaggio P.166 communi
cations aircraft. In addition there are
44 C-47s, which form two general trans
port squadrons. Two squadrons of
Alouette Ills and one of 16 Super
Frelons provide the helicopter force,
together with a flight of seven Wasps
which are detached aboard frigates.
There is also a Citizen Air Force (in
reserve) with seven squadrons flying
Harvards, Impalas (SA-built MB.326s)
and Cessna 185s. Training is in the
hands of about 150 Harvards and Im
palas of which 234 are being built by
Atlas. The Army Air Corps operates
about 18 Cessna 185s and a Crotale SAM
system is on order from France.
SOUTH YEMEN
Air Force of the South Yemen People's
Republic In keeping with the other
new air forces in Arabia this air force
has a Coin strike force of four BAC
Strikemasters and four armed Jet
Provost T.52s, six Westland-Bell Sioux
helicopters and a transport force of
four C-47s and six Beavers.
SOVIET UNION
Soviet Military Aviation Forces The
main strategic potential of the Soviet
forces lies in its Missile Force and this
comprises about 1,260 ICBMs (240 SS-9s,
800 SS-lls and 220 SS-7s and SS-8s).
Behind these are about 700 IRBMs, 70
deployed against targets in China and
the rest against Western Europe. A
bomber force is also in service with the
Air Force with 90 Mya-4 and 100 Tu-20
long-range bombers and 550 Tu-16s and
175 Tu-22 medium-bombers, about half
of which carry air-to-surface missiles.
Air Defence, which is a separate com
mand, has a high proportion of SAM
sites for air defence, principally the
SA-2 Guideline, of which 8,000 are
believed to be in service, backed up by
SA-3 Goa, the earlier SA-1 Guild and
smaller missiles for tactical defence.
Manned defence lies in the fighter force
SINGAPORE
Singapore Air Defence Command This
command is rapidly building up a com
bat force ready for the withdrawal of
the RAF. It has 16 BAC 167 Strikemas
ters and is acquiring 12 Hunter FGA.74s,
four Hunter FR.74As and four Hunter
T.75s as a strike force and will take
over a squadron of Bloodhound 2 SAMs.
Support aircraft consist of eight Cessna
172s and eight Alouette III helicopters.
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